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( Basque language)
Basque (native name Euskara) is the language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain and the adjoining region of South-Western France. It is spoken by approximately a quarter of the Basques, with its stronghold in the contiguous area from central Biscay (Bizkaia) through Guipúzcoa (Gipuzkoa), northern Navarre (Nafarroa) and parts of Labourd (Lapurdi) to sparsely populated Lower Navarre (Nafarroa Behera) and Soule (Zuberoa). Until reintroduced into the education system, it had not been spoken in most of Álava (Araba), in western Biscay, or in the southern half of Navarre in the recent past. Out of a total of nearly 3,000,000 Basques, it is estimated that some 1,063,000 speak Basque in which 632,000 are native speakers. Approximately 566,000 of the latter live in the Spanish Basque country, with the rest residing in the French part.[2] The Basque language has been standardized and updated by the end of the 20th century by means of its Batua version. This standard is mainly used in the Spanish Basque country, and to a lesser extent in the Northern Basque Country due to the limited availability of schools teaching in Basque or as a subject. Nevertheless, there are six main Basque dialects, comprising Bizkaian, Gipuzkoan, and Upper Navarrese (in Spain), and Lower Navarrese, Lapurdian, and Zuberoan (in France). However, the dialect boundaries are not congruent with political boundaries. The Basques occupy a Spanish autonomous community known as the Basque Country (Euskadi), which has significant cultural and political autonomy, the Northern Basque Country in the French department of the Pyrennées Atlantiques, and the autonomous community of Navarre in Spain, which together make up the greater Basque Country (Euskal Herria). The Spanish portion of the Basque historical territory is referred to by Basques as Hegoalde, while the French Basque provinces are referred to as Iparralde.
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Basque language Subcategories
Basque language Articles
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